Stairway to Heaven
by Atomic Runner
Summary: They lost the one they loved so much and their perfect life is shattered...but the one they lost will come back in some way and make things right. A future fiction and later crossover with Ghost Whisperer.
1. Chapter 01

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tree Hill and its characters. The show belongs to Mark and CW.**

**Thanks to Biddy429 for beta and helping me out. I'm really great full.**

**Note: Story is rewritten and re posted.  
**

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**Chapter 01**

Nathan entered the house. He could feel nothing other than emptiness inside. It was hard to believe that just two years ago the same house had been so lively, but since Haley left, the house has never been the same.

"Dad, you're home early." His little girl said in surprise.

"Yeah Lydia, how was your first day at school?" asked Nathan, he could see Haley in his little girl, even she looks lot like him. At sixteen, Lydia was tall and had straight reddish brown hair and her eyes were blue just like him. When Haley left, she had wanted to take her with her but Lydia had refused, she knew her father needed her then.

"So how about I order some lunch?" said Nathan as he picked up his cell.

"Already taken care off" said a voice from the doorway. It was Brooke, who was heavily laden with boxes as she made her way into the house.

Nathan smiled ruefully as he looked at her. She was something else, Brooke Davis, and a good friend, and ever since Haley left, she had been taking care of Lydia, she had almost become like another mother to Lydia, and Nathan was very grateful to her for that.

"Thanks Brooke, you're always so good to us, and you're saving me from cooking and saving Lydia from having to eat my cooking so it's really appreciated" said Nathan with a laugh.

"Hey friend, enough of that, I brought the food from Karen's Café and you know she doesn't charge us"

"Yeah that is good of her and it's really good that she taken up the Café from you again" said Nathan nodding.

Brooke smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Listen Nathan, I hate to ask, but has Haley ever called you all this time. I mean she talks to Lydia, but what about you?"

Nathan sighed, "Brooke you know she doesn't talk to me or Lucas anymore. She also changed her name back to Haley James instead of Haley James Scott"

"Well, I can understand that, she is hurt after all she went through, but you suffered too you know, she should remember that" replied Brooke.

"Yeah, I know and I am still suffering, she was suspicious and she tried to warn me, but as usual, I didn't listen to her. She was right, so I suppose it was my fault".

"Please Nathan" Brooke walked over to him, "It wasn't your fault, and you need to stop blaming yourself for this"

Whilst they were talking Jamie Scott came into the house, he was twenty three now and he could see how sad his father was, the state he was in and it killed him to see him like this.

"Listen, I'm going to put these into the kitchen and sort out lunch, will you be okay?" Brooke asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine." Nathan said and took a seat on the couch.

Jamie walked over to his father and sat down beside him.

"Dad, please don't blame yourself"

Nathan didn't respond to his son's statement, however Jamie continued.

"Dad, it was all my fault that mom left, not yours, I was the one who screwed things up. I just wanted things to be better, and I'm so sorry that I put Lydia and Matt in this mess"

Nathan shook his head and looked to where Jamie sat but said nothing; instead he stood up and walked out of the room.

Jamie sighed; he knew no matter how much he tried, his father wasn't going to listen to him. He knew that the one decision he had made had ruined his entire family and he could not forgive himself for that.

…

Lydia was upstairs in her room and about to go downstairs when her cell began ringing. She picked it up and answered it

"Hi Matt is that you? This is a surprise" said Lydia.

"Yes sis, it's me" it was Haley and Nathan's youngest thirteen years old son.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"Well….mom and I are coming to Tree Hill."

"What?" Lydia was totally shocked. "I thought you and mom left Tree Hill for good."

"Don't get your hopes up, she isn't coming back for dad, she still hates both dad and Uncle Lucas"

"Oh I hate all of this; I wish things could go back to normal"

"I know Lydia but it can't, too much have happened. Well, I had better go now; I just thought I should let you know we are coming. It will be good to see dad and I'm sure you will be looking forward to seeing mom"

"Yeah, I miss her; it will be good to see her"

"Okay sis, see you soon, bye"

"Bye Matt"

With that Lydia put down her cell and made her way downstairs. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard Brooke calling on her.

"Lydia, lunch is ready" called Brooke.

Lydia entered the kitchen and as she did so Brooke smiled at her and said "Who was that on the phone?"

"Oh hi Aunt Brooke, um, that was Matt. He and mom are coming to town" Lydia could see no reason for not telling the truth about their visit, they would find out anyway.

"Really, when are they arriving" asked Brooke in a shocked tone.

"Today but I honestly don't know how dad will feel when he see's mom, it's all so messed up" said Lydia, nearly in tears.

Brooke turned to Lydia seeing how upset she was becoming and put her hands on her shoulders as she said" Listen I'm here, nothing bad will happen, they are your parents and they used to love one another, so try not to let it worry you, okay?"

"Yeah I know, I'm just being silly"

"No you are not being silly, you are just a worrier. Okay, come eat now"

…

"Sawyer watch out there" Peyton almost shouted to her daughter. Sawyer was seventeen years old now, tall blonde and perfect blend of her parents. She was helping her mother carry some bags out to the car.

"Mom, you don't have to shout you know I can hear you" said Sawyer with a scowl.

"Okay sweetie, can you put them in the car for me then, I don't know where your father and brother have gotten to"

"I'm here mom" squealed a red haired young boy jumping out in front of his mother.

"Keith you gave me a fright, go tell your dad that we need to get a move on, it's getting late"

"Okay mom, but first I need to tell you something, and you are gonna be so excited about this" said Keith cheerfully. Keith was a boy with such a sunny disposition and there were not many who could put him in a bad mood.

Peyton eyed her son suspiciously and asked "What is it Keith?"

"We…ll, dad went to see Aunt Haley and Matt"

"What did you say?" replied Peyton in a shocked voice as the bags dropped from her hands.

Sawyer ran to grab the bags that her mother dropped and said "Great mom, you were telling me to be careful" as she lifted the bags and put them in the car.

"Um, er, sorry honey" replied Peyton blankly to her daughter. She shook her head as though to clear her thoughts and then directed another question at her son.

"Where did your dad go to meet your Aunt Haley and Matt?"

"He went to the block on the left side of the market" replied Keith.

Peyton did not reply immediately but stood there thinking. After a few seconds she moved and said "Okay kids, I need to go find your dad, I won't be long"

Peyton could not understand why Lucas would go to see Haley and Matt now, not after all of this time but she needed to find out why. She also knew that this meeting would not be a pleasant one.

…

Haley pulled the car to a stop, opened the door and got out of the car. It been five years but it felt like a lifetime.

It was Lucas who spoke first.

"Haley, is that really you"

As soon as Lucas spoke she could feel a rage fill up inside her, how he dare think he can meet up with her after all of this time and pretend nothing had happened.

"How dare you Lucas Scott?" Haley almost screamed at him and it was then that Lucas knew she had never forgiven him and she may never do so.

"Look Hales, I know you are angry with me, but I just need a minute to speak to you and explain. Nathan is a mess, please can you stop punishing him?"

"Lucas, I tried to warn him, I knew something was wrong but he wouldn't listen to me, you wouldn't listen to me. What did you expect me to do; all you were both interested in was that damned State Championship and winning it. You never seen the signs or maybe neither of you wanted to see them, you just plodded along doing what you both wanted to do and never mind the consequences. That bitch knew everything and didn't tell a soul but you two couldn't see the truth, I guess you got what you both wanted"

"Hey Haley, my sister is not a bitch and it's not all down to her" said Lucas defensively.

"Lilly could have come to any one of us and told us, she could have explained it all, but no, she wanted to keep it all to herself regardless of who it would hurt, she kept her mouth shut and I'm supposed to forgive her, I don't think so Lucas"

"It's not easy on any of us."

"No it's not is it; at least you have that part right. What does it feel like to have a sister who has ruined so many people's lives Lucas; I hope she is proud of herself. Now, I don't want any more to do you with you or any of your family so please go now, leave us alone"

"Okay but before I do I want you to know that no matter what has happened in the past, we are all here for you, we are all your family and we care, and none of us will ever give up on you" Lucas said in a final note as he turned to walk away.

Jamie saw his uncle and mother arguing, he wanted to go to them to stop them but he knew it would not do any good, even if he could stop them. Things would never be the same between them all, now or ever.

…

It was a dark night, the sky was clear and it glittered with small tiny stars.

Jamie had been walking along the empty road for a while now, his legs were hurting, he was hurting and he knew no matter what he did or said, nothing would make things right again.

He came as far as the bridge and he remembered stories from when he was younger that his father had jumped off the bridge to save his Uncle Cooper and Rachel from drowning. That was one of the stories that his dad had told him about the vision of his Uncle Keith who had managed to save them. It was an amazing story and he was sure that at some point in his younger days that there many amazing times between his family. Those times were gone now.

"Hey there" Jamie heard a voice approach him and noticed that it came from an old black gentleman with a beard standing nearby.

"Hi" said Jamie in greeting as his hands gripped the railing of the bridge in front of him.

"So son, you're still here" said the old man.

"Yeah I guess so" said Jamie with a shrug.

"Wanna share?"

"Share? What do you mean?" replied Jamie

"Well, you look like you need someone to talk to and as I am the only one here then I guess it's me" said the old man.

Jamie looked at the old man for a moment and then thought to himself _"what the hell"_ and decided to bear his soul.

"My mom and dad split up" said Jamie despondently.

"Well son, I'm sure you never wanted that, maybe they never wanted it either"

"Well, I'm not so sure about them but I know I never wanted it for them. I honestly never thought it would come to this. I had everything planned inside my head"

"Listen son, God always has plan, why don't you try and talk to your parents, it's worth a try"

"What do you think I've been doing for the past two years?"

"Try harder son"

"Don't you get it?" Jamie snapped, "I'm dead. I'm just a spirit and no one can hear me"

"I know son. You died two years ago. However, there's a reason why you didn't pass."

"I wish I knew." Jamie sighed, he wanted so bad for his parents to hear him again.

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**Hope you like the chapter. Read and Review.**


	2. Chapter 02

**Chapter 02**

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Nathan opened the door and was surprised to see Lucas standing there on the doorstep in front of him.

"Lucas, what are you doing here?" Nathan could see from the expression Lucas wore that it was not a particularly social visit his brother was paying him today.

"Well brother, I have news for you" Lucas said as Nathan opened the door wider to let him into the house.

"There was me thinking you were coming around for a chat, what's happened now?" Nathan said following him.

"Haley is in town"

"What?" Nathan could hardly believe his ears, it was as though something had just exploded inside his head, maybe he hadn't heard right, he spoke again, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, I spoke to her!"

"Wow, all these years and she's finally home, but why now?"

"I'm not entirely sure Nathan but listen, don't get your hopes up, she still hasn't forgiven either of us and I can assure you she was not happy when she saw me"

"Well I honestly didn't expect anything other than that but I hope she will let me see Matt, do you think she will?"

"I don't know Nathan, she is still pretty angry. We had a bit of an argument. Look, I'm going over to my mom's, I'll catch you later?"

"You just got here"

I know, I just wanted to let you know about Haley"

"Okay Luke, I'll see you later then"

Lucas left and Nathan sat for a moment before getting up to go check on Lydia. Just then Brooke appeared.

"Listen...Nathan; I need to tell you something important"

"Haley is in town, I know." Nathan told.

"Oh…so is that why Lucas was here?"

"Yes and he met her and they shared some angry words, it's not gonna be easy with her here but I need to try and talk to her"

"God… she really doesn't sound like the old Haley we all knew and loved does she?"

"What do you expect Brooke, we lost our son, she's hurting and she will never be the same and I don't think I will either"

"I know Nathan but why did keep everything a secret, he should have told someone, anyone that he was having those headaches, we could have helped him"

Nathan let out a long sigh and replied, "Brooke, I've told you this before, he did try and tell me about them, he even tried to tell Lucas but we never listened, all we were interested in was him getting through the State Championships, and we never saw the signs till it was too late"

"Nathan neither you or Lucas can blame yourselves, you were not to know, Jamie should have pushed the point and made you listen to him, I think that's the reason why Haley is so angry with both of you"

Nathan just stood there and let the words flow over him, not really listening to Brooke, he already knew why Haley hated him so much and he hated himself too.

Brooke interrupted his thoughts then "Listen, I'll go talk to Haley, at least she is not angry or mad at me, as far as I know anyway, what you think?"

"Yeah Brooke, that might be a good idea, why don't you take Lydia with you?"

"No, let me talk to her first, but before I do that I am going home to check on my three lovely boys" she said with a smile to herself. She loved them all so much, and when she was apart from them she missed them more than she could ever say.

"Yeah Julian, Jude and Davis must be missing you"

"Yep, and I miss them so much, okay must be off, see you later?"

"Yeah, bye"

...

"Honey, please come home, we all miss you terribly okay?" Karen closed her cell, and she was not happy.

"Hi mom" Lucas said as he entered the cafe "I take it that was Lily on the phone?"

Yeah, I'm trying my best to get her to come home but I'm not doing very well"

"Well mom, maybe it's a good thing that she is not at home right now, Haley's back in town and it wouldn't really be a good thing for them to see one another right now"

"Yeah, I know" said Karen on a sigh, "Jamie made her promise to keep his secret but I will not stand by and let her take the blame, not for anyone, even Haley. If Haley thinks she can turn up out of the blue and have a go at my daughter then she will have me to deal with" said Karen with determination in her voice.

"Mom, remember how I made Haley promise not to tell you about my HCM? Well just think about how you felt when you discovered that she had been keeping it from you, you were angry but then you understood. Lily was only doing what Jamie asked her to do and Jamie was trying to tell us but we didn't want to listen, we were more concerned about winning the State Championship. I guess Haley is right about that part"

"I know and I can understand Haley's reaction. I really feel for both of them, Nathan and Haley didn't have the chance to say goodbye to their son."

"That's what hurting them so much, they never had a chance to say goodbye, it was so sudden!"

"Lucas is there any way you could try and convince Lily to come back?"

"I'll try mom but you know it's hard for her, she's the one who found him dead and remembered how Haley blamed her for Jamie's death, and she even called Lily murderer, it's really hard for her to face that all over again"

"I know, I worry about her that's all but I suppose it's good that Madison is with her."

"Yeah it's good that they both got close, sometime grief can bring people together, I promise I will try and talk to her" assured Lucas.

"Thanks son" as she put her arms around him and gave him a hug.

...

"Hi mom, you're back." Said her sixteen years and six feet tall son Davis as he smiled at his mother.

"Hi….um, what have you done to your hair?" Brooke said in a wary tone.

"Do you like it mom? Don't you think I look cool with dark hair, now it's just like yours" replied Davis proudly.

"Er, Davis I really would have preferred you had waited to speak to me before changing the color of your hair" said Brooke in a warning tone.

"But mom, dad said it was okay, he said you wouldn't mind and he was with me!" replied Davis.

"He did, did he?" replied Brooke as she glared at Julian accusingly.

"What? I thought it would be okay, I thought you would be okay with it too!" replied Julian defensively.

Davis realizing that his parents were about to have a disagreement over this and it was time for a quick exit.

"Okay, mom, dad, I've got some homework to catch up on so I'm going to my room" said Davis as he backed out of the room hastily and made his exit. He really didn't want to get caught up in this argument, especially when it was about him, and from the safety of his room he could hear his dad defending himself to his mom.

"Bro you are screwed," Jude said fighting to hold his laugh. Jude wasn't as tall as Davis and little skinny. Unlike Davis long hair, Judas had very short dark hair.

"Go make fun of me, damn I don't know why mom is so mad."

"Listen why you are so obsessed with your hair." Jude said looking at Davis who has almost as long hair as most of the girls, but his long hair always suited him, so no one ever complained.

"Listen I never complained about your poetry."

"What poetry?" Jude was defensive and smile came on Davis's lips, "I know your secret poetry."

"Listen that's my private stuff." Judas mocked.

"Relax, I have no intention of telling anyone and beside this whole poetry turn pain in my stomach." Davis said and began cheacking his new hairstyle in mirror.

"Brother like that...I don't need a sister." Jude said from behind.

"Whatever..."

Outside the room Julian and Brooke were still arguing.

"Look honey, I really thought you would be okay with it and I honestly thought that I had told you that Davis wanted to color his hair and anyway, he always wanted to look more like you so why not?" explained Julian.

"Why would you let the boys do such a silly thing…and don't give me that, they want to look like your routine, as it doesn't work" replied Brooke exasperatedly.

"Okay fine Brooke, but you have to admit he looks cute with dark hair" but seeing Brooke's anger flame in her eyes he began to back down and put his hands up defensively and said "Okay okay, a bad decision, I shouldn't have let him do it."

"Yeah well, as long as it washes out after a while then I guess I'm okay with it, but I must admit he look better with his natural blonde hair, and listen here buster, this does not let you off the hook, never again!"

"Yep sweetheart, I swear never to let either of them dye their hair again"

And with that he leaned in and kissed his wife tenderly on the lips.

...

Haley had since met up with Peyton and they were taking a walk down by the river. They had come to a stop and were looking over the bridge down at the water.

It was Peyton who spoke first. "You're not mad at me too Haley, are you?"

"No Peyton but can you please tell Lucas that I don't want to speak to him ever again and tell him to stay well away from me"

Peyton moved closer to her friend and put her arm around her shoulders.

"Haley, you are both hurting, and before you say a word, I am staying out of that argument. I am your friend and that's why I am here today as I think I know the reason for your visit!"

"Yes, this is the spot where my son died, five years Peyton, and it still fells yesterday."

"Yeah, I know" was all Peyton could reply.

"How's Lydia."

"Why don't you go see for yourself?"

Haley nodded and said "Yes I think I will go see her."

"Um Haley what about Nathan, are you going to see him?"

"Oh God, I am so not having this conversation Peyton, I don't want to talk about him" Haley turned to leave but Peyton grabbed her arm, it was a slip of tongue that she mentioned Nathan, but she couldn't let Haley just walk away like that.

"Peyton, I'm asking nicely, let me go"

"Okay I did agreed not to argue with you but I can't take it anymore, you need to listen to me" Peyton was angry now, angry with Haley for being angry with everyone else and making life hard between them all. She wanted everything to go back to normal, as normal as it could be these days. Even she promised not to get into argument; she couldn't hold it any longer.

Haley looked at Peyton and the look in her eyes was of fear, Peyton took pity on her and Peyton relented her grasp on her.

"Okay Haley, I understand you are hurt and afraid and have a million different emotions running through you right now but you need to know that both Lucas and Nathan know they made a mistake, even Lily knows she made a mistake, but she kept a secret for her best friend because he begged her to do it and she couldn't let him down. We had secrets when we were younger, you kept a secret for Luke about his HCM and Karen was hurt when she found out but she didn't hate you for it. We have all done it for our friends and yes it hurt us all, but Haley, you are not the only one hurting here, we all are and you don't seem to be able to see beyond your own grief and how it has affected everyone"

Haley almost shouted at Peyton "Peyton, I don't give a damn about any of them, I've lost my son and as far as I can see Nathan, Luke and Lily could have prevented it but they didn't" Haley pulled away from Peyton.

"I've heard it all now, you don't give a damn. That's a very selfish thing to say Haley, you are not the only one who lost Jamie you know, yes you were his mother, god you will always be his mother but you know we all loved him. If you can't think of that then think of Nathan at least, he was his father for god sake, how do you think he feels for not listening to him when he asked him to, he blames himself you know and so does Luke"

"Peyton, just put yourself in my position."

"Put myself in your position, well honey you are asking the impossible there as I could not imagine ever losing a child like that but what I will say is this, I lost two mothers Haley, one to cancer and one in a terrible accident. How do you think I coped, you were there when I lost my real mom, it hurt and it hurt like hell but I didn't blame anyone, I didn't blame anyone when my adoptive mother died and I could have, I could have blamed the driver of the other car but would it have brought her back, no it wouldn't so why waste all that emotion on something negative"

"But Peyton, I knew Jamie was sick, he tried to keep it from us but he came to speak to us and Nathan didn't even listen to him. He just told him to concentrate on playing the game or leave. I guess he did both" tears were flowing down Haley's cheeks now and she didn't try to wipe them away.

Peyton was angry again with her friend and as Haley began walking away she said, "Haley you just said that Jamie came to speak to you and Nathan but Nathan wouldn't listen, tell me this Haley, why did you not listen, why blame Nathan?"

Haley continued to walk away as she did not have an answer for Peyton; it was the one question she could never answer.

...

"So you came back." The old man said to Jamie.

"It really sucks that people can't see or hear you" Jamie sat.

"Your right son, sometimes it does but other times its okay" replied the old man.

"You didn't tell me your name?" asked Jamie

"You can me Joe." Said the old man with a smile.

"Well Joe, what's your story."

"I did pass a long time ago but there are times when I come back to this place just so that I can see my brother"

"Oh, well how is he doing?"

"So far he's doing fine, just fine" Joe answered, "Well, boy, now it's your turn, tell me your story"

"Oh I don't know if you have the time, mine is a long one"

"I love long stories and besides, we are not going anywhere, and we have all the time in the world, so tell me."

"Okay, you asked for it, so here it goes…"

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**R & R**


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